


Pajama Shoes

by wyomingnot



Series: 16 monks [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 03:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16054109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyomingnot/pseuds/wyomingnot
Summary: Their first night aboard theImperialis, Rae and Armitage each think and then have a little talk.





	Pajama Shoes

The first night aboard the _Imperialis_ is terrifying for Armitage. His quarters are nicer than any place he’s ever slept, but it’s the first time he’s slept by himself since he was taken from his mother (since she was taken from him). The lost boys, as Grand Admiral Sloane calls them, are all squashed together in the next room. The ship is big enough for everyone to have their own sleeping space, but they refused.

He’s alone and scared and anxious and angry. And he misses his mom and he’s feeling too many things all at the same time and he just wants it to stop.

He won’t cry though. He won’t. The other boys would know and would hurt him, even if the Commandant said they won’t. But he can’t keep lying in his bunk.

He slides out of bed, almost jumping back in when his feet hit the floor; it’s so cold. He looks around the room, but the only shoes he has are his boots. He shivers and grabs the blanket, wrapping it around himself tightly before slipping out of the room.

The ship is quiet. There’s not even any noise from the other boys’ room. Armitage can only hear the engines if he’s super still, holds his breath, and concentrates. He can’t decide if that’s reassuring or not. Drives running means they’re going somewhere. Somewhere he isn’t supposed to be. But since he’s supposed to be with the Commandant (he refuses to call him his father. He won’t do it. Not ever), he can’t exactly feel bad.

He tiptoes quickly to the bridge. Not so much for stealth, but because all the floor is cold (remember, Armitage, it’s called the deck, not the floor), and tiptoeing makes less of his foot touch the floor. Deck.

The door to the bridge is open. Grand Admiral Sloane is sitting in the pilot’s seat up front, looking out the viewport. Armitage thinks he’s been quiet but the Grand Admiral turns to face him when he crosses the threshold.

***

Rae Sloane is tired. Bone-deep exhausted. Yesterday she was a Grand Admiral, today she is a deserter. Thief. Kidnapper. Captain of a stolen ship with a handful of monstrous children and one not-yet-a-monster (won’t-be-a-monster if she has anything to say about it).

She’s emotionally overwhelmed and physically hurt. Her injuries need seeing to; they can’t be ignored much longer. Sitting in the co-pilot’s seat next to the pilot droid, she sighs. Reprogramming the droid is yet another thing she needs to do.

The droid is in silent mode, and the rest of the ship is quiet. If not for the streaks of light outside the viewport, she wouldn’t even know the drives are active. Not this far forward.

The silence is broken by the sound of small footsteps. Armitage is out of bed, unless those damned monsters figured out how to override the lock on their quarters. That’s not likely, and even if they did, an alarm would sound if the door isn’t unlocked with her biometrics. Plus, that many children can not be silent. It must be the Commandant’s boy.

She turns to face him as he crosses the threshold on to the bridge. He snaps to attention when their eyes meet. Rae is impressed that he keeps his blanket on while he salutes smartly.

“Grand Admiral Sloane!”

“As you were, Armitage. I’m not a grand admiral anymore,” she says as she stands up and walks to him. “No more Empire for you and me.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He nods once.

“No _ma'am_ either.” She brushes his hair out of his face, and that’s when she notices he’s shivering. Blanket, pajamas, and… bare feet. “Why are you running around the ship barefoot?” She has the odds urge to pick him up, get his feet off the deck, but that is not happening with her cracked (please don’t let them be broken) ribs.

“I couldn’t wear my boots with my pajamas. And I don’t have any pajama shoes.”

Rae cracks a smile, the first in a long damn time. “Well, then. We’ll just have to go find some. Okay?”

“Okay, m… If I can’t call you Grand Admiral or ma'am, then what do I call you?”

“You can call me Rae.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm playing fast and loose with book canon here, but since I'm using the label 'au-canon divergence', I'm hopefully safe from sticklers. 
> 
> I think the world would be a better place if Rae had gone ahead and left the remains of the Empire, as she pondered momentarily in _Aftermath: Empire's End_. Taking Armitage with her. 
> 
> Kylo Ren will show up much later in the series. His story will obviously also diverge from canon.
> 
> [Originally posted on tumblr.](http://wyomingnot.tumblr.com/post/178308487200/pajama-shoes)


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